


Leaf on the Wind

by another_revolution



Category: Firefly
Genre: Crying, Gen, Nightmares, Post-Serenity, painful almost-fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-31 11:37:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/another_revolution/pseuds/another_revolution





	Leaf on the Wind

_I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar._

The ship is shaking. Shuddering. Ripping apart at its very frames. The air in front of them is a swirling maze of bloody ships and gunfire. Explosions paint everything yellow.

_It’s okay. I’m a leaf on the wind._

Tight shoulders. White knuckles. Blue eyes.

_What does that even mean?_

Through the cloud layer. Maybe, just maybe, this could work.

No it couldn’t. A squawking sound jumping from the controls shoots ice into her veins.

_We’re not alone._

A violent jerk. Sparks flying, everything in flames. Grabbing for buckles, desperation turning hands into claws as the ship convulses.

_We’re fried, I got no control._

_Where’s the backup? WHERE’S THE BACKUP?_

Tendrils of terror wrap around limbs and throats. Constricting. Choking. Everything is spinning. They are in free fall. Sickening, spiralling free fall. The foul taste of bile crowding the back of her throat.

At least they’ll be dead before the Reavers reach them.

Sheer panic, the smell of sweat. Wanting to scream, not knowing how. But the ship’s spinning slows. The port is in their sights.

Wash.

_I’m gonna have to glide her in._

_Will that work?_

The impact of the crash sends them flying, limbs flailing. Everything shuddering violently and the ship is screaming, being torn apart by the ground beneath them. Another crash, and the world goes black.

Then they are still.

But they are breathing. They are alive.

Wash.

_I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how I-_

Zoe wakes up screaming.

As she jolts into consciousness, trembling and drenched in cold sweat, her screams turn to sobs. She clasps at the empty bed next to her, fingers twisting into the cold sheets.

How many more nights would she have to relive those minutes? How many more years would it be before she could stop seeing his blue eyes in the back of her mind? Hot tears blur Zoe’s vision, but she can still see Wash, bathed in red light, head hanging and mouth slack. That mouth that she had kissed a hundred times, it could split his face into a smile that was more suited to a child. But it only ever made her fall more in love.

Would she ever forget him? Would it hurt less as her memory faded? If a day came that she couldn’t remember the way his eyes crinkled, would it hurt just as much to think of him? Or would the pain flood back as each of her memories died?

Zoe’s sobs gradually faded into steady, soundless tears. She lay alone, picturing his face for the thousandth time, and begged silently for the darkness to swallow her up, so that she wouldn’t have to do this anymore.

How many more nights would she have this nightmare? How many more nights would she wake, screaming into the dark?

At least one more.


End file.
